Frequently Asked Questions

If the vehicle has been bought on a purchased-based finance arrangement (Hire Purchase or Personal Contract Purchase) Back to Invoice+ or Vehicle Replacement + would be appropriate.

Back to Invoice+ will cover the difference between your motor insurer's settlement and either your invoice price or outstanding finance - whichever is greater at the time of a write off.

The Vehicle Replacement + policy would pay the difference between your motor insurer's settlement and either the replacement cost of a vehicle of the same make, model, age and specification as the original or the outstanding finance, again whichever is greater at the time of a write off.

GAP Insurance is designed to protect you against financial loss if your vehicle has been declared a total loss or write off by your insurer.

If your car is involved in an accident, stolen or damage by flood or fire, and deemed a total loss your comprehensive insurer will only pay you market value for your vehicle at the time of the incident.

This may leave you exposed to any remaining finance settlement charges or the substantial loss suffered with the vehicle value depreciation. This can be covered by purchasing GAP insurance.

You must apply for a policy within 180 days of taking delivery of your vehicle.

The exception to this is that, if you have purchased a brand new car your comprehensive motor insurer may offer new-for-old replacement in the first year. If this is the case you can purchase GAP insurance from us for up to 365 days*

*The vehicle must be under 12 months old on the start date of the policy.

For vehicles owned outright we are able to offer you Vehicle Replacement+ Insurance (for vehicles with less than 80,000 miles on the clock) or Back to Invoice + (no mileage restriction).

The Vehicle Replacement policy covers the difference between your motor insurer's settlement and the replacement cost of a brand new car, if your car was new at the time of purchase. Alternatively, if your car was not brand new, it covers the difference up to the cost of a vehicle which matches the age of the car that you originally insured.

The Back to Invoice + policy pays the difference between your motor insurer's market value settlement and your original invoice price.

Based on average figures you could assume that a 2 year old vehicle would be worth about 65% of its original value, a 3 year old vehicle 45% - 50% and for 4 years you could assume 35%-45%.

When getting a quote our system suggests a "GAP Claim Limit" on this basis.

If the vehicle is on a lease or contract hire agreement, it is worth checking with the leasing company their policy on charges if the contract is terminated due to a total loss. Many leasing companies charge 50%-60% of outstanding rentals whilst some will charge you 100% of outstanding rentals.

As part of our Back to Invoice Plus policy, if you have bought your vehicle from a private seller and do not have a VAT invoice, the GAP policy will pay the difference between the Comprehensive Insurance settlement and the Glass Guide retail value of your vehicle at the time the policy is purchased.

No – in the event of a total loss your comprehensive insurer will pay a settlement of market value and the GAP insurance is simply there to “top-up” their settlement.

The level of cover should therefore only be the amount needed to cover the difference between your insurer’s settlement and either:

• The invoice price of your car or the outstanding finance balance, if higher
• The replacement cost of your vehicle or the outstanding finance balance, if higher
• The outstanding rentals and any shortfall in the market value settlement;

GAP insurance is unusual in that it cannot be renewed or extended yearly or at the end of the policy.

For this reason we suggest that the GAP policy should last for as long as you plan to keep your car, up to a maximum of 5 years.

We understand that it can be difficult to know how long you might keep your car. For this reason, if you change your car before the policy expires, we will provide you with a daily pro rata rebate of the original premium which can be used in one of two ways:

1. The whole amount can be used as a credit against a brand new policy on a new vehicle. There may be a balance to pay but no admin fees are charged.
2. We can refund the rebate amount to you, but this would be subject to a £35.00 cancellation fee.

Back to Invoice Plus will cover the difference between your motor insurer's settlement and either your invoice price or outstanding finance - whichever is greater at the time of a write off.

The Vehicle Replacement Plus policy would pay the difference between your motor insurer's settlement and either the replacement cost of a vehicle of the same make, model, age and specification as the original vehicle or the outstanding finance, again whichever is greater at the time of a write off.

You will need to provide:
- Your policy number and vehicle details
- Details of the minor body damage including when and how the damage occurred
- Electronic images of the damage
- Dates when the vehicle can be inspected and repaired, if your claim is covered.

Repairs will be carried out by the approved repairer only and payment for any authorised claim will be made directly to them.

For Back to Invoice+ and Vehicle Replacement+, this is based on the likely depreciation in the value of your vehicle over the term of your policy.

We base average rates and it is intended to give you an idea of the amount of cover which is suitable for you but it can be changed to suit your specific vehicle.

For the Contract Hire+ policy, we are covering your outstanding rentals and any shortfall in the market value settlement from the insurer - it is based on potential contractual liability of up to 100% but this might be lower in your actual contract.

The insurer of these policies, UK General Insurance Limited acting on behalf of Great Lakes Insurance SE, is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and your policy is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme.

A Back to Invoice Plus quote is based on the price you're paying for the vehicle.

For this reason use the cost of the vehicle itself including manufacturer fitted extras and dealer fitted extras (as long as these are on the manufacturer price list and appear on the vehicle purchase invoice).

Include within this any deposit or trade in you have made against the purchase but use the price of the vehicle after deducting any dealer of manufacturer discount.

You don't need to include any interest or charges relating to your finance agreement, if you have one.

Other add ons and on-the-road costs like extended warranty, service plan, paint/upholstery protection, insurance premiums, delivery charge, road fund licence or fuel are not included as part of the price of the vehicle.

If you would like any assistance with a quote please contact our team on 01653 916304.

You will need to provide the following information:
- Your policy number and vehicle details
- A daytime contact telephone number
- The cause of the damage

Depending upon the nature of your claim you may also be asked for the following additional information:

- Confirmation of the tread depth of the damage tyre (s)
- Itemised repair/replacement costs from your chosen VAT registered garage
- A valid crime reference number if the damage is malicious
- A location of the retained tyre for inspection
- Your contact and payment details for reimbursement

If you require emergency assistance out of hours you will be unable to contact the claims administrator to obtain a
claim authority number.

Under these circumstances or where the repairer refuses to wait for payment from us, you will need to
settle their invoice and claim reimbursement from us.

You must retain the damaged tyre(s) for one calendar month to allow inspection by an independent engineer. It is your responsibility to ensure that the damaged tyre(s) is/are available for inspection and failure to do so may invalidate your claim.

There are some things we are unable to cover which includes, but is not limited to: delivery cost, first registration fee, extended warranty charges, insurance products, administration fees, road fund licence and paint/upholstery protection.

If you would like further advice about whether to include something in the vehicle price then please call us on 01653 916304.

You will be required to provide the following information
in support of Your claim:
- Your name, address and postcode
- A daytime contact telephone number
- The policy reference number for Your Excess policy
Motor Excess Protection Insurance
- The policy reference number for your motor insurance policy and details of the motor insurer
- Copy of the settlement letter from your motor
insurer confirming:
a. Your name and address;
b. Details of the vehicle;
c. The amount settled;
d. The nature of the incident;
e. The excess deducted.

This should be the price of your vehicle before deducting any discounts you have received from the dealer or manufacturer. These are sometimes VAT free offers or shown on your invoice as a deposit contribution. For new vehicles you can use the list price and include any factory or dealer fitted extras.

If the vehicle is pre-registered you would use the net price for the vehicle rather than the list price. If you have had any extra discounts these can be added back on.

If you would like any assistance with a quote please contact our team on 01653 916304.

No, Agreed Value GAP (AVG) is not motor insurance for the purposes of the Road Traffic Act.

Our Agreed Value GAP has now been added to our Back to Invoice + policy. This means that, if you do not have a VAT invoice for your vehicle because it was purchased from a private seller, we will cover the difference between your comprehensive insurer's settlement and the Glass's Guide value of your vehicle at the time of purchase, in the event of a total loss.

We cannot cover any, taxi, mini cab, driving tuition vehicle, courier or delivery vehicle of any type or any private or public rental vehicle.

We also cannot cover vehicles used in any sort of competitions or rallies, used for racing, pace making, speed testing or in reliability trials.

We cannot cover vehicles not listed in Glass’s Guide e.g certain imported vehicles, left hand drive vehicles; kit cars; invalid carriages; commercial vehicles of more than 3500kg gross weight; or American, Australian and Canadian Vehicles unless they were built for the UK market. .

Any vehicle we cover cannot weight more than 3500kg.

If you are uncertain about your vehicle eligibility please contact us on 01653 916304 and one of our team would be happy to help.

To claim under this policy please contact Direct Group Ltd on 0344 893 1022.

You will be asked to supply details of the circumstances of the claim, including but not limited to:
- A full written description of how the damage or theft occurred
- Proof of ownership of the property which has been damaged or stolen– e.g. receipts, purchase invoices;
- A crime reference number if your property has been stolen
- If your property has been damaged, you must retain the damaged items as we may ask to inspect them

At our option we will:
1. Pay the cost of replacement as new; or
2. Pay the cost of repair

To claim under this policy please contact MB & G Insurance Services Limited on 0191 25 88 141 within 7 days of the VT30 certificate being issued.

The following procedure will need to be followed:

- The repairer who completed the MOT test and issued the VT30 ywill need to contact the claims administrator to check if the repair is covered under the policy
-The repairer should not commence any repairs without authorisation from the claims administrator
- The repairer will need to provide the following documents:

If your van is on hire purchase or PCP finance, where you can choose to own it at the end of the term, or you do so automatically when the last instalment has been paid, then Commercial Back to Invoice + or Commercial Vehicle Replacement + would be suitable for you.

Alternatively, if the van is on a lease or contract hire agreement, where there is no option to purchase at the end of the term, you would need to select Commercial Contract Hire +.

To claim under this policy please contact the claims administrator, National Breakdown, on 01274 288 488.

You will need to provide:
- Your policy number and vehicle details
- A daytime contact telephone number
- How the misfuel occurred

Depending on the nature of your claim we may ask you to provide the following additional information:
- Location for the attendance of the contractor
- Your contact and payment details for reimbursement (if required)

This depends on the supplier but you really need to double check the small print. Our Contract Hire+ GAP specifically covers up to 100% of outstanding rentals and any potential shortfall in residual value.

If you purchased a brand new car and have been covered by your motor insurer on a new-for-old basis in the first year, we can provide you with GAP insurance for up to 365 days and while the vehicle is less than 12 months old.

If your car was not brand new at the time of purchase and this does not apply, we cannot provide you with cover once more than 180 days have passed since you collected your car.

No, the GAP policy is covering your liability for the vehicle rentals only.

Depending upon the terms of your Contract Hire agreement, maintenance charges may be included in your settlement figure from the finance company at the time of a total loss but these would not be covered by the GAP insurance. We would always recommend that you check your lease agreement for specific details.

Other costs which are not covered include:
- Road Fund Licence
- Excess mileage charges
- Late payments or arrears

Not all comprehensive insurers will cover you if you are hit by an uninsured driver, so it is best to check with them.

A requirement of the GAP insurance policy is that your motor insurer must make a market value settlement in the event they write your vehicle off. Provided they do so, and you can provide us with the few pieces of documentation we need for the GAP claim procedure, then we will also make a settlement.

If for any reason your motor insurer does not settle then the
GAP policy cannot settle in these circumstances.

If your insurer is providing you with new-for-old cover, you can purchase ALA GAP insurance up to 365 days after taking possession of the vehicle, whilst the vehicle is less than 12 months old.

However, you can choose to purchase the GAP policy from us to have it run alongside the cover from your insurer.

Whilst this may seem like you are duplicating cover, if your vehicle is written off in the first year we will transfer the balance of your original policy on to your replacement vehicle.

Please consider the possibility that there may be instances where your insurer reduces your settlement to market value only. This can be for various reasons including exceeding the annual mileage limit pro rata, the condition of the vehicle, if the vehicle has been stolen rather than being involved in an accident or if a replacement vehicle cannot be sourced with a certain number of weeks of the incident. if you have not purchased GAP insurance you could be left with a shortfall.

If you choose to add Initial Rental Cover as part of the Contract Hire + GAP policy, this will cover any initial rental paid for the vehicle itself.. However it will not cover any amount paid towards the maintenance contract.

If your GAP policy is deferred for 12 months and you have a total loss claim, your motor insurer may refuse to replace new for old due to one or more of the terms and conditions of the policy not being met. It is then very unlikely that the deferred GAP Insurance policy will activate either - leaving you with no GAP cover whatsoever!

However, you can still purchase GAP insurance from ALA ,while the car is less than 12 months old, for up to 365 days after taking delivery of your vehicle, where you have new-for-old cover.

Deferring the GAP policy means you have to pay for it upfront, despite not having the cover for up to another 12 months.

We rely on your motor insurer to provide cover and as long as they do, so do we. For example your insurer may not settle or may significantly reduce your settlement if your vehicle is stolen with the keys as a result of your negligence i.e. the keys are left in the vehicle whilst de-icing or paying for fuel. If this is the case your GAP insurance cannot settle.

If your keys are stolen from your house or bag your insurer would be likely to make a settlement. In this scenario your GAP policy will still pay the difference between their settlement and either the invoice price, replacement vehicle cost or outstanding finance, depending upon the type of policy you have.

With regards to dealer fitted accessories, there is no limit to the value that we will cover; as long as the part appears on the manufacturer price list and is included on the vehicle invoice, we will cover the cost of that extra.

Please note that we cannot cover the cost of any conversions or after-market modifications.

Your primary insurer will normally pay you the current market value of the vehicle and that is all. This may or may not be enough to cover the finance settlement figure at the time.

If you have GAP insurance this will cover any shortfall (up to the maximum claim limit) up to the invoice price, replacement cost or outstanding finance on your vehicle in the event of a total loss, depending upon the type of cover you have with us.

Yes, provided your motor insurer extends fully comprehensive cover to Europe (rather than the minimum insurance requirement for that country which, can sometimes be third party only) and you comply with any restrictions your Fully Comprehensive Policy enforces for a UK registered and domiciled vehicle, then the GAP Insurance will be valid.

Please note that GAP Insurance only pays out if the primary insurer accept the insured loss under a fully comprehensive policy.

We can only provide you with a GAP policy if you can confirm that your insurer will pay the market retail value of your vehicle in the event of a write off. If they will only pay trade value this would unfortunately invalidate any cover with us.

A GAP policy isn't designed to refund road tax. There is no need for it to do so as it would be refundable pro-rata by the DVLA if your vehicle is written off.

If your vehicle is declared a total loss by your insurer you need to send section 9 of the vehicle log book to the DVLA. You will then receive an automatic refund in the form of a cheque within 4 weeks.

Yes it is. We calculate the unused premium in your original policy on a daily pro rata basis and deduct it from the price of a brand new policy. There are no administration fees to do this, however there may be a balance to pay for the new policy.

This is subject to ALA's Fair Usage Terms, which means that we cannot complete a transfer in conjunction with any other offer or additional discount.

Transfers can currently only be completed by a member of staff over the phone. Please call us on 01653 916304 for assistance .

These include, but are not restricted to the following:
- A policy may not be transferred more than twice in a 12 month period
- Multiple discount codes may not be used including cash back offers and discount codes.
- Discount codes that are not directly associated with a cash back site may not be used in conjunction for an ALA purchase.
- Our price guarantee does not extend to discounted/sale prices. In certain circumstances we may be unable to complete a price match for example where terms are incomparable.

To check your vehicle, this may be listed as the Max Permissible Mass, Max Authorised Mass, Permissible Maximum Weight or Gross Vehicle Weight. This can be found in the owner's manual for your vehicle or on a plate or sticker attached to your vehicle

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